Sacrifice
by TheSpiritMaiden
Summary: The battle with Dark Link in the Water Temple has taken a turn for the worse. Link is mortally injured, and with no potions or fairies, Navi is the only one who can help him.


"What is wrong with you? You sick FREAK!"

The shade frowned at the blue fairy. "It was either me, or him. Give me one reason why I shouldn't have saved myself."

"You're just leaving him to slowly die! Do you see how much pain he's in?"

"That's not my problem," Dark Link shot back. Though his body was littered with cuts and bruises and sprains, he was in much better condition than his counterpart in blue. The fight had been a short scuffle for him; Dark Link had quickly gotten the upper hand, and after disarming his counterpart, had delivered the final blow with the Master Sword. "Anyway, the door wasn't going to open until one of us died."

Navi glanced around the room, if one could even call it that. There were no walls or ceiling, the water covering the ground was ankle-deep, and the whole area was shrouded in an endless, grey mist. There were two structures, each with doors still barred off. Between them was an island with the dead tree the shade leaned against.

Navi's glowing blue form began to tremble in fury. "Then you'd better kill yourself quick so I can get him some hearts or I swear by the gods I will-"

Dark Link yawned. "You'll what?"

"Do you even know what you signed up for?" Navi shrieked.

"Like it was my choice," Dark Link scoffed. "Ganondorf grabbed me from another realm and dropped me here. I hate every part of him. Of course, I don't really like your friend over there, either."

Navi whizzed over to the young man lying a ways away from the tree, with the Master Sword standing straight up in his torso, as if it were the pedestal. Blood was everywhere: staining his tunic, trickling past his lips, dying the water crimson. His pale face was streaked with it.

Using all of her strength, she pushed up against the Master Sword's hilt, but it stayed embedded in his stomach.

"Come on Navi!" she muttered. "Link needs you!"

She pushed herself up against it a final tinkling shout, she forced it out, and the sword clattered to the side. Link's face contorted in pain. Exhausted, she flew up to his ear.

"Link!" she said, gasping. "Link, can you hear me?"

He let out a shaky breath, and more blood leaked out the corner of his mouth. She swallowed the knot in her throat, and began to circle the wound on his stomach, showering it with her fairy dust. As she felt the magic leave her, Navi's head started to pound, and her body started to ache.

He stirred as she collapsed in his lap, too exhausted to fly any longer.

Blinking, Link sat up, unsure of what had happened. Last he remembered, his copy had stood over him with the Master Sword. But he hadn't had any potions or healing fairies...

He suddenly noticed the little blue creature lying on his tunic. With the gentlest of hands, he scooped her up and she lay in his palm, unmoving.

"N-Navi," he gasped.

She squinted up at him and cracked a smile. "H-hey, Link."

"Navi, wha... what happened to you?"

"If I were a pink fairy and I healed you, I would be fine," she told him. "But I'm not. I wasn't born a healing fairy. I wasn't even born a guardian fairy. I was a nobody, like you were."

"Navi," he repeated. He rubbed his bleary eyes on his tunic, still red from his blood.

"L-Link," she wheezed, "don't do anything stupid. Go to Kokiri Forest and ask for a new fairy-"

"No!"

"But it's okay, right?" she sighed. "Because I had you, and you were a nobody too, just like me. And I finally found something to believe in." She gave a tired grin. "I remember that first day in Kokiri forest. I was ecstatic, so happy to meet you! I finally had a destiny, a purpose." She coughed softly. "And… I know I might've not been the most helpful fairy, and I know I was probably annoying, with all my talking."

"...never! I… I never thought you were annoying! Ever! I swear."

"Of course you did! Everyone does!" She curled up around herself, the glow starting to fade. "But you gotta promise me one thing."

A spark of something flared in her eyes.

"Kick that shadow's ass, and after you do, send that loser Ganondork flying all the way to Sacred Realm."

Link sniffled as the blueish glow faded completely to show a small, pale body with long wings. With shaking hands, he pulled his green hat off his head and slid her body inside it. He set it on his shield to keep it relatively dry.

Dark Link observed all this from his point by the tree, leaning out of the other's sight. He sighed and stepped over to the dark sword stuck in the ground. He leaned over to retrieve it; that boy was going to be crying for the next half hour. Might as well end it while he-

His mind went blank as a blade slid cleanly through where his heart should have been. No blood. He felt the hilt of the Master Sword pressed against his back.

"She died because of you," Link hissed. He twisted the sword a bit, and the shade gasped in pain. Did it feel pain?

"Sh-she chose to die for y-you," Dark Link responded.

Link twisted the sword even more. This time, the shade cried out through gritted teeth.

"From what I picked up from looking at you, you're a nice guy with good traits and values." He gave Link a crooked smile. "I didn't know anger and revenge were two of them. Did you?"

The sword was abruptly pulled out. The shade collapsed in the water, rippling the surface. Slowly, from the feet up, his body disintegrated. The mist disappeared to reveal dark walls and a ceiling, and the bars to the doors flew up.

For a minute, he stared down at where his shade had died. "No," he finally responded. "I didn't know."

He went back to his shield and hat. The water around it was still red, and the bulge in his hat was still unmoving. No miracle, no fairy popping out, singing, "I'm okay, Link!" in her high, sweet voice.

Taking a deep, shaking breath, Link picked up his hat and slung the shield over his shoulder. On his way out, he passed the tree and hung the hat on a branch. It still cradled the tiny figure inside of it. He would retrieve it before meeting with the boss, and, after winning, would return her to her home in the forest.

* * *

**How was that? Though she was a bit annoying, I still loved Navi while playing the game.**

**A big thanks to The Invisible Fan for Beta reading for me; you're awesome! Any general errors are my fault, not theirs.**

**Review please? :)**


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